Post by Mr. Mediocre on Oct 28, 2007 13:25:06 GMT -5
For those that don't know, I was at JAPW's Tenth Anniversary show last night. Now, they had some momentum going into this show as their last event in Rahway may have been the best show they've put on since at least 2005. But, because this is JAPW, there of course had to be some screw-ups, especially considering the main show was 4 and a 1/2 hours long. No exaggeration there.
And believe me, there were. We're talking Russo-esque stuff here, folks.
But let's start with the good.
The JAPW Hall of Fame ceremony was great, especially the induction of Charlie and Russ Haas. Charlie had a great, emotional speech and received two standing ovations during his induction.
Because of how long the show was, I'll just give the results of the first half:
Six-Way Elimination Match: B-Boy d. Bandido, Jr., Joker, Matt Cross, Sal Rinauro, and Seth Delay. Very good opener.
Da Hit Squad with Kevin Matthews (formerly of WWE Developmental) demolishes the Christopher Street Connection.
Cryme Tyme d. The Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. Cryme Tyme are quite over, and they then sell off the bras of the women in the back.
Quick write-up on the next match:
Danny Demanto came out next. Demanto, for those that don't follow JAPW, may in fact be the least talented wrestler of all time. He's out of shape, doesn't do anything all that well, and sucks at selling. It's a tradition at Anniversary Shows for him to be destroyed by a hardcore wrestler. Two years ago it was New Jack (who carved him like a turkey). Last year was Axl Rotten. Anyway, Devon Storm (formerly Crowbar in WCW) comes out and the two beat the piss out of each other, with Storm eventually getting the win.
Demanto then thanks JAPW for giving him a real match, and Hernandez comes out and gives him a border toss.
Eddie Kingston (who still hates CZW) d. Drake Younger. One of the better matches of the night.
Kazarian d. AJ Styles cleanly. Let that sink in for a second. Good match, surprising ending.
Jay Lethal (as Black Machismo) and Azriael d. Ruckus and Sabian. Arguably the best match of the night.
Sara Del Rey d. Nikki Roxx. Here's where the show takes its downward turn. It's not because of anything the wrestlers did, mind you. It's all because of the way the show was set up...there were three matches after the women's match, and the crowd was *DEAD* by the main event. Anyway, Rhino comes out after the match and gores Del Rey through a thing of plywood.
Necro Butcher comes out, he and Rhino fight here, there, and everywhere, Rhino eventually gets the win. Good match.
Next is the New Jersey State Championship, a ladder match between The Grim Reefer and Archadia. It was your standard indie ladder match save for two problems. 1. They only had one ladder that was big enough, and it got bent out of shape from moves being done on it, and 2. The finish was atrocious.
As Reefer is about to get the belt, Archadia throws powder into the referee's eyes. Reefer tries to grab the belt, but it's stuck to the rope. He finally decides to jump off the ladder and pull it down, and the belt snaps in two. I've never seen anything like it. Anyway, Archadia hits Reefer, grabs the belt pieces, shows the ref he has them, and is the new champion.
Finally, we get to our main event. JAPW Heavyweight Championship - Low Ki (C) v. Homicide. The crowd was DEAD. This despite being announced as the largest crowd in JAPW's history with two phenomenal workers. This is why you shouldn't put on a 4 1/2 hour show, and it's why a ladder match shouldn't be the next to last match in a 4 1/2 hour show. Ultimately, Homicide gets the win and becomes new champion.
BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE. Here's where the Russo-esque stuff comes in. Homicide demands that BLK OUT come out right now...his Strong Style Thugs (Low Ki, Homicide, Hernandez, B-Boy) have been having problems and he wants it settled. Fat Frank (owner of JAPW) gets on the microphone and says it's the 5 men in BLK OUT v. the 4 SST, with the following stipulations: if Homicide gets pinned, the guy who pins him is the new champ. If Hernandez gets pinned, the guy who pins him is the new tag team champion. If BLK OUT loses, they're out of JAPW forever.
So this goes on for 2 minutes, and here's the finish:
The lights go dark, and who's in the ring? Why, it's none other than the guy who got blackballed from JAPW, Teddy Hart. He gets a huge pop by about 90% of the audience (I flipped him off). He beats up Homicide, and then puts Low Ki on top of him. Now...remember...Low Ki and Homicide are on the same team. Ref Hansen counts the pin, and Low Ki is now once again JAPW Champion.
This raises a number of questions. 1. How can a guy pin his partner? 2. BLK OUT neither won nor lost -- are they out of JAPW? 3. What moron booked this finish?
So yeah...that was JAPW's show. Don't think about the finish too much - you might get an aneurysm.
And believe me, there were. We're talking Russo-esque stuff here, folks.
But let's start with the good.
The JAPW Hall of Fame ceremony was great, especially the induction of Charlie and Russ Haas. Charlie had a great, emotional speech and received two standing ovations during his induction.
Because of how long the show was, I'll just give the results of the first half:
Six-Way Elimination Match: B-Boy d. Bandido, Jr., Joker, Matt Cross, Sal Rinauro, and Seth Delay. Very good opener.
Da Hit Squad with Kevin Matthews (formerly of WWE Developmental) demolishes the Christopher Street Connection.
Cryme Tyme d. The Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. Cryme Tyme are quite over, and they then sell off the bras of the women in the back.
Quick write-up on the next match:
Danny Demanto came out next. Demanto, for those that don't follow JAPW, may in fact be the least talented wrestler of all time. He's out of shape, doesn't do anything all that well, and sucks at selling. It's a tradition at Anniversary Shows for him to be destroyed by a hardcore wrestler. Two years ago it was New Jack (who carved him like a turkey). Last year was Axl Rotten. Anyway, Devon Storm (formerly Crowbar in WCW) comes out and the two beat the piss out of each other, with Storm eventually getting the win.
Demanto then thanks JAPW for giving him a real match, and Hernandez comes out and gives him a border toss.
Eddie Kingston (who still hates CZW) d. Drake Younger. One of the better matches of the night.
Kazarian d. AJ Styles cleanly. Let that sink in for a second. Good match, surprising ending.
Jay Lethal (as Black Machismo) and Azriael d. Ruckus and Sabian. Arguably the best match of the night.
Sara Del Rey d. Nikki Roxx. Here's where the show takes its downward turn. It's not because of anything the wrestlers did, mind you. It's all because of the way the show was set up...there were three matches after the women's match, and the crowd was *DEAD* by the main event. Anyway, Rhino comes out after the match and gores Del Rey through a thing of plywood.
Necro Butcher comes out, he and Rhino fight here, there, and everywhere, Rhino eventually gets the win. Good match.
Next is the New Jersey State Championship, a ladder match between The Grim Reefer and Archadia. It was your standard indie ladder match save for two problems. 1. They only had one ladder that was big enough, and it got bent out of shape from moves being done on it, and 2. The finish was atrocious.
As Reefer is about to get the belt, Archadia throws powder into the referee's eyes. Reefer tries to grab the belt, but it's stuck to the rope. He finally decides to jump off the ladder and pull it down, and the belt snaps in two. I've never seen anything like it. Anyway, Archadia hits Reefer, grabs the belt pieces, shows the ref he has them, and is the new champion.
Finally, we get to our main event. JAPW Heavyweight Championship - Low Ki (C) v. Homicide. The crowd was DEAD. This despite being announced as the largest crowd in JAPW's history with two phenomenal workers. This is why you shouldn't put on a 4 1/2 hour show, and it's why a ladder match shouldn't be the next to last match in a 4 1/2 hour show. Ultimately, Homicide gets the win and becomes new champion.
BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE. Here's where the Russo-esque stuff comes in. Homicide demands that BLK OUT come out right now...his Strong Style Thugs (Low Ki, Homicide, Hernandez, B-Boy) have been having problems and he wants it settled. Fat Frank (owner of JAPW) gets on the microphone and says it's the 5 men in BLK OUT v. the 4 SST, with the following stipulations: if Homicide gets pinned, the guy who pins him is the new champ. If Hernandez gets pinned, the guy who pins him is the new tag team champion. If BLK OUT loses, they're out of JAPW forever.
So this goes on for 2 minutes, and here's the finish:
The lights go dark, and who's in the ring? Why, it's none other than the guy who got blackballed from JAPW, Teddy Hart. He gets a huge pop by about 90% of the audience (I flipped him off). He beats up Homicide, and then puts Low Ki on top of him. Now...remember...Low Ki and Homicide are on the same team. Ref Hansen counts the pin, and Low Ki is now once again JAPW Champion.
This raises a number of questions. 1. How can a guy pin his partner? 2. BLK OUT neither won nor lost -- are they out of JAPW? 3. What moron booked this finish?
So yeah...that was JAPW's show. Don't think about the finish too much - you might get an aneurysm.
